Cars

Team ICB in conversation with Mr Pravin Shah, CEO of Mahindra’s Automotive Division

At the sidelines of the Mahindra Maxximo Plus launch at Mumbai, Team ICB’s Melwyn D’Souza got in touch with Mr Pravin Shah, the CEO of Mahindra’s Automotive Division, and posed a few questions about the car maker’s plans for the Reva E2O electric car and the Thar off roader. Here are Mr Shah’s answers to Team ICB’s questions.

2013 Mahindra Reva NXR Electric Car

Interview begins,

Team ICB: Now that the 2013 Union Budget has been announced, when does Mahindra plan to launch the Reva E20 Electric car?

Mr Pravin Shah: NO ETA, beccause the Finance minister has not done any favour to us, especially when Mahindra is taking such an initiative to promote the green environment.

Team ICB: Since the finance minister hasn’t announced any subsidy for the E2O in the budget, how will it impact Mahindra’s pricing strategy? Will Mahindra actually absorb the impact of the non-announced subsidy?

Mr Pravin Shah: Mahindra won’t be able to afford and absorb the costs. Especially when Mahindra is taking such huge initiatives and pumping in crores of money to develop new technology to develop new products to promote the greener environment. The Indian Government has failed to recognise Mahindra’s efforts in the field of promoting greener environment.

Team ICB: Is Mahindra coming up with a new engine for the Thar? We’re hearing rumors about the 1.5 Liter twin turbo diesel engine of the Quanto finding its way into the Thar. Your comments on this.

Mr Pravin Shah: Media always get some rumours and tid bits from somewhere and make a big issue out of it. I read it somewhere, and I had a big laugh. If we think, we should put the Quanto engine in Thar, especially if there is a demand, then we will. But as of now, there is no such decision for the next 6 months.

Interview ends.

So, the takeaway from this interview with Mahindra’s Pravin Shah is that the exact timeline of the Reva E2O’s launch in India remains under a cloud of sorts. We’re quite surprised with Mr Shah’s answer regarding the launch time frame of the Reva E2O considering the fact that Mr Chetan Maini, the Chief of Technology at Mahindra Reva, indicated a March 2013 launch for this hotly anticipated electric car. The other development of course is the fact that the non-announcement of subsidy for the Reva E2O might have a significant impact on the price of this electric car. Prospective E2O buyers can only keep their fingers crossed and hope for an affordable price tag.